0.0% for cyclists: Which non-alcoholic beer tastes best? The self-test

The article first appeared in 2024 and was updated on 29 April 2026.

Here is the revised paragraph with changed sentence structures: If you want to, you can even enjoy a beer before training! This recommendation does not come from the German Brewers' Association, but from Uwe Schröder, a specialist in sports nutrition at the German Institute of Sports Nutrition.who we also interviewed. The qualified ecotrophologist and passionate amateur cyclist is very serious about this. Alcohol-free beer is much more than just a thirst quencher for racing cyclists. Thanks to its ingredients, it is an excellent alternative to conventional juice spritzers or specialised sports drinks.

Active regeneration aid

Non-alcoholic beer can fulfil important functions as a recovery drink after sport: It regulates the water balance, stabilises the blood sugar level thanks to its carbohydrates, helps to quickly replenish exhausted muscle energy stores and helps to store this energy in the muscles thanks to the mineral potassium. A common recommendation is that you should consume around one gram of carbohydrates per kilogramme of body weight immediately after exercise in order to effectively replenish glycogen stores and promote recovery. This recommendation can be easily implemented with carbohydrate-containing drinks such as non-alcoholic beer. As around 19 mg of potassium is stored in the muscle cells per gram of carbohydrate, potassium-rich drinks are particularly beneficial for recovery after intensive activities. For example, one litre of Bitburger 0.0 contains 78 grams of carbohydrates, which would be enough to supply an 80-kilo sprinter with the recommended amount of potassium.

Some beers are even labelled "isotonic". This means that the liquid in the beer and the blood in the body have the same concentration of dissolved particles. This means that the ingredients in the drink can be absorbed by the body particularly quickly. "However, the 'isotonic' property alone is not a sufficient measure of quality for a sports drink," explains ecotrophologist Uwe Schröder. In cooler temperatures, when you sweat less, a slightly hypertonic drink with a higher carbohydrate concentration than the blood may be a better choice.

Is alcohol-free the same as alcohol-free?

Although many non-alcoholic beers actually contain small amounts of alcohol, the law allows them to be labelled alcohol-free with a residual alcohol content of up to 0.5 percent. From a nutritional point of view, this low alcohol content is usually unproblematic. Our blood is not completely alcohol-free either, as our bodies produce ethanol themselves and even rye bread or bananas can contain alcohol, which many people do not realise. However, the German Institute of Sports Nutrition recommends that performance-oriented athletes choose non-alcoholic beers that actually contain no residual alcohol; these are usually labelled "0.0" by the breweries.

These variants have the advantage of having no alcohol-induced dehydrating effect, which is important to compensate for the large sweat losses typical in endurance sports. Even the low alcohol content in "only" non-alcoholic beer can have a dehydrating effect and impair rehydration after sport. When it comes to rapid regeneration, for example in training camps, on multi-day stage rides or when training twice a day, avoiding alcohol altogether can promote muscle regeneration and recovery. Alcohol inhibits protein synthesis, which can delay muscle build-up and repair after intensive exercise.

As beer is mainly made from barley or wheat, it is not suitable for people with gluten intolerance. However, there are now also gluten-free beers such as Neumarkter Lammsbräu Alkoholfrei.

The taste test

Non-alcoholic beers have long suffered from the prejudice that they don't taste good! This negative reputation was hard to shake off. But in 2001, non-alcoholic Erdinger wheat beer set out to prove the opposite. Marketed from the outset as an isotonic recreational drink, it established itself as the market leader. As a result, non-alcoholic wheat beers from many other breweries also became popular thirst quenchers and summer drinks.

The challenge is still to give alcohol-free beer the typical beer flavour, because: "Alcohol is a flavour carrier!" explains beer expert and sommelier Simon Rossmann. During the alcohol fermentation process, numerous flavour compounds are created whose interactions have not yet been fully researched, enthuses the brewing engineer, who teaches at the Doemens Consulting Institute for the Brewing, Beverage and Food Industry in Munich.

There are various methods for producing non-alcoholic beers: one traditional method is stopped fermentation, which prevents the alcohol content from exceeding 0.5 per cent. This method has been used for decades.

The use of special yeasts is a relatively new technique. Certain yeast strains do not produce alcohol and bring interesting flavours to the beer. This method is particularly attractive for smaller breweries that do not have large financial resources. New yeasts and improved filter systems encourage brewers to be creative, which is why many new non-alcoholic beers - often pale instead of wheat beers - are coming onto the market in a variety of flavours.

The third approach to producing alcohol-free beers is to use dealcoholisation plants that remove the alcohol from the full-bodied beer; however, these plants are complex and expensive and are therefore only suitable for financially strong breweries.

Blind tasting at 11

For the taste test of our 8 beers, sommelier Simon Rossmann carried out the sensory evaluation; 7 colleagues from the editorial team selected their favourites in a blind tasting. Both tests took place at 11 o'clock in the morning, as this time is ideal according to beer expert Rossmann, because the taste buds are particularly sensitive at this time of day. Without alcohol, there was also no risk of the rest of the working day being thrown out of sync.

Non-alcoholic Helles/Pils in the test

Four non-alcoholic wheat beers tested